Preschool Corner

~Wyatt is 4 years old. Levi is 3 years old~


Looking back, I found that the last post about our tot school and preschool corner adventures was quite a few months ago! But that doesn't mean that we haven't been doing "school". That's the awesome thing about teaching your children at home, it can happen anywhere, about anything, at anytime! I just happen to "document" on my blog every once in awhile for memory sake (and the grandparents of course!)
Since I posted last, we have gone through the alphabet up to Letter W. I follow (very loosely) The Letter of the Week idea, but sometimes it takes us 2 weeks to get through all the fun activities and lessons on the particular letter. And when I say it takes 2 weeks, that still is only 3 or 4 days total of actual "preschool" around the kitchen table. No need to have sit-down "school" everyday! We have plenty of fun things that keep us busy from errands to playdates, to chores to family time. To read more on the "curriculum" I have used for my now 4 yr old and 3 yr old, read this post.

We did fun activities for Letter N is for Nest (in the spring time, complete w/ our very own robin nest in our pergola outside Levi's window) Wish I had a picture of that! But here is a picture of the Bird's Nests we made at Easter.



We did coloring pages for Letter O is for Octopus
And reading books from the library for Letter P is for Penguin
And fun color by number for Letter Q is for Quilt.
For Letter R, we did a great painting activity and made a rainbow by dipping the eraser side of a pencil in paint and making dots along along an arch.


For Letter S we had coloring pages of snakes (Levi's favorite) and did a Letter Hunt for things that start w/ the Letter S that we could find in our house.
For Letter T, I finally captured some pictures of our activities...

Below is Levi's sorting of Uppercase and Lowercase T's

Wyatt practicing tracing (all printables in these pics are from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com)

Levi doing a color matching game also from Confessions of a Homeschooler



Then we did Letter U for umbrella and had some more color by number fun along w/ library books as always to go w/ our theme!
Now we are going thru V, W, X, Y, Z at Grandma's house this summer!

And there are always puzzles to enjoy! This is one of the biggest ones Wyatt has ever worked on! I love my preschoolers :-)

June

WOW--a month since I posted last!! I have intended many times to post something, but it just never happened! And we have been quite busy w/ lots of "moving" (of sorts). When I was packing our bags in preparation for our 2 months in PA, it sure felt like we were packing up to move again! Considering it only took about 5 days to pack and I could leave all my wall hangings and dishes, I guess it wasn't quite as bad as the 5 moves we have made in the past 4 years! And then every 10 days or so while we are up here in PA, I will be packing my and the kids' bags to go to and from camp and Grandma's house and vice versa!! Seriously, I should write an e-book on Sensible, Organized Packing! ha! I think I have learned quite alot of tips to pass along! Actually between me and my sister (her husband is in sports evangelism and travels 9 months out of the year), I think we could write a best seller!

We are having a blast in PA, but I miss my house! After not having a permament residence for the past (almost) 4 years, it was so great to finally be settled! It made it harder to leave NC this summer. Can't believe this is our 4th summer spent in PA! The first year Adam had this summer job, Levi was only 8 weeks old!

And Wyatt was only 16 months!

Ahhh...a 2 month old and a 16 month old, a daughter and son-in-law, and a dog invading my parents' house for the whole summer!! Not sure if they were thrilled or not, but we have some great memories and pictures for sure! Can't believe this was 3 years ago!


Ok, onto this summer so far...I am pleased to announce that I made it thru--staying NINE DAYS and NIGHTS at camp!! ha! that's the longest stretch of time I have ever stayed! It's not "camp" itself; it's the 2 preschoolers that live in our cabin that makes it tricky! :-) Like any vacation with children, you're ready to come home to some normalcy after awhile...at least I am! They can only get so over-tired and over-stimulated! By the 9th day, the meltdowns were more frequent than the happy times, so I knew it was time to go!
Unfortunately, it rained 5 of those 9 days that we were at camp. Thankfully, they have a great Arts & Crafts building and also an indoor gymnastics arena. The boys loved painting on big paper w/ huge paintbrushes! And of course they loved the gymnastics arena b/c they could just run around and jump on the huge trampoline (which I have since learned is called a tumbling track!).
It was too cool to do any of the water activities...pool, lake, lake trampoline, etc). Yes, "too cool"!! Wyatt keeps telling people that "it's so hot in NC but not here!" The weather is alot cooler and more rainy, but everything is so GREEN! The grass is amazing!! Soft, green, no fire ants, no red clay-dirt! The kids (and I) love to go bare foot up here since we don't get to very often in NC!
Now we are at my parents' house for a while to enjoy some of my parents' time off from work for the 4th of July and a trip to Dutch Wonderland!

Here are some pictures from our time at camp back in June:

They have gotten alot of practice at hitting wiffle balls that Daddy pitches to them.

Wyatt can't get enough of "baseball". He even runs the bases after a good hit!

The gymnastics arena is a favorite for both boys!

It's a full gym w/ a tumble track, uneven bars, balance beam, vault, horse, etc!!


The arts and crafts building. Painting "smocks" on!

Levi helping Daddy pick up the basketballs at the end of activity time for the campers.